


coexist

by pjobroadwayslut14



Category: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Genre: Free Verse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Racism, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:33:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29862306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pjobroadwayslut14/pseuds/pjobroadwayslut14
Summary: PERCY transfers to a new school.FELICITY spends some time with her mother.MONTY is having a rough time, again.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	coexist

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warnings in the tags

**Percy**

i’m starting to think i’m a mind reader.

every time someone passes

a little too close in the hallway, 

or looks over for a second too long,

i can almost hear

their brain scream

“look! it’s the new kid! avoid him like the plague!”

this school’s

only saving grace 

is the music program.

home is my safe haven,

but it’s usually the other way around. 

not here. not now.

at this school, 

i’m too gay to fit in with the black kids.

too black to fit in with the gay ones.

it feels like i straddle the line between two worlds, 

never being able to swing 

to just one 

or the other. 

like in ‘A Walk to Remember’.

i should rewatch that.

it’s a good movie.

**Felicity**

mother likes to brush my hair. 

she calls it “girl time,” since 

“the only two girls in the house have to stick together, right?”

right, i guess. 

monty and father keep each other company.

father always at monty’s throat, 

monty forever living to piss him off. 

she has this idea that we’re made out

to be friends

just because we’re both girls. 

i don’t see it that way.

we have nothing else in common. 

“you’re so smart, felicity. smart and pretty. exactly what a lady should be,” she says, untangling a knot.

it’s always

‘such a promising young woman.”

promising enough 

to be the accessory to an 

even more promising young man.

“thanks.”

**Monty**

i was already 

halfway through the bottle 

when he called me in. 

it was nice and cold going down, burning. 

he sat down at his desk 

and now he’s just staring at me. 

i wonder what it’s gonna be this time. 

grades?

gin? 

curfew?

men? 

maybe he’s already

spun the wheel to decide. 

maybe he’ll do it

in the moment.

mom and felicity

are in the next room over, 

felicity’s bedroom. 

looks like it’s a shit night for the both of us, 

though i’d take

a nice comb 

through my hair

than this 

any day.

father stands up.


End file.
